Tyfoid Mary

From a marketing standpoint, Tyfoid Mary's got a lot of things going for it, including a pun-friendly name and bandmembers who fit snugly within contemporary metal's two most popular visual categories: bald and bold (singer Jerry Harper and drummer "Dugan" Demongey) and hairy and scary (guitarist Scott Seidl and bassist Igor Panasewicz). The band is just as democratic from a musical standpoint. The players may have named their album Quarantine, but they don't regard any hard-rock approach to be off limits.

"Spun," the lead track, encompasses more than its share of stylistic flourishes, including vocals that range from rap-rock rant to full-on yowling. That's followed by "Real," a slow grinder with an anthemic chorus, and "Breathe Again," a tune that keeps things hushed and intense. Most surprising of all is "Refried Brains," a psychedelic freak-out that's as goofy as the rest of the set is serious.

Mary's latest, which is packaged with a six-song bonus disc, may not be totally original, but it's highly communicable.

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